The Best Guy Movies Of All Time

The 40 Best Guy Movies Of All Time

Aren’t all movies guy movies in some respect? Not to generalize here, but, as a guy, I can attest to the fact that all men will watch whatever is put in front of them, so long as they’re promised a hint of burning debris or cleavage. Still, it’s all good: action movies, thrillers, and comedies are a no-brainer, so-called “chick flicks” are awesome, and musicals are make people wanna sing and stuff.

But the guy-guy movie—the physical manifestation of steak, cologne, whiskey, and football is as easy to spot as a flamingo in a football field. These 40 movies, picked for the particular way they make us dudes feel way down in our ice-cold steel hearts are the ones every guy can look to when he needs a manly boost. These are also movies that you want to watch with a group of people; we're not looking at intricate, you-need-to-follow-every-second plotlines, but rather movies with unforgettable moments that are best digested in a group. They’re funny, they have explosions, and more than one of them star Bill Murray—no surprise there. Here are the 40 manliest movies out there, ranked for greatest to greatest-smothered-in-cheese.

RoboCop (1987)

Every kid growing up wanted to be a fireman, astronaut, a robot, or a cop. RoboCop satisfies at least two of those prerequisites and presents a movie about a police officer on the brink of death who is then made better, faster, stronger...and I guess harder, too. It’s campy, ridiculous, violent as hell, and totally awesome for merging together the genres of police drama and sci-fi masterpiece. The use of “ultraviolence,” as Rotten Tomatoes puts it, is used to satirize America’s bloodlust for action while also presenting a movie that’s just impossible not to get into.

True Lies

Who would’ve ever thought that Arnold had such a knack for comedy? Partially making fun of the genre and himself, True Lies tackles the typical spy movie with its ultra-self awareness, giving it both credibility and a dose of realism as it answers the not-often-muttered-question: “what would happen if my wife found out I was a spy??” With Jamie Lee Curtis killing it in that one particular scene (you know which scene I’m talking about) and Tom Arnold adding some extra comic relief, True Lies is the perfect pairing of action and comedy.

Drive

Go figure that it’s Ryan Gosling—from The friggin’ Notebook—who teaches the world how to make the best use of non-verbal dialogue in this 2011 pseudo-action neo-noir thriller. Carey Mulligan summarized the making of the film as "staring longingly at Ryan Gosling for hours each day,” which speaks volumes louder than some of the more romantic gestures of our past film heroes. Gosling is absolutely cool as hell behind the wheel of his car and makes it apparent that no one’s going to get in his way—which he backs up with the use of some pretty awesome, albeit totally extreme, violence. With the killer soundtrack that just seems to never get old, Drive is the art-house flick dressed up as an action movie that get every guy’s blood pumping.

Planet Of The Apes (1968)

It was Earth all along, could you even believe it? Charlton Heston proves that his manliness knows no bounds as he gets lost in space and crash-lands on a mysterious planet filled with damn, dirty apes. Even after getting shot in the throat, he manages to escape the zoo he’s imprisoned in and fight his way to freedom. That last shot is unforgettable, though, when (spoiler) he realizes he’s been on earth the entire time. Truly an amazing movie through and through.

Blade Runner

This movie is dark. Visually, emotionally, audibly, everything: dark, dark, dark, but it’s a hell of a good movie. Taking place in Los Angeles in the year 2019, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runnerstars Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, a cop who hunts down members of a rogue artificial intelligence community, but (oops!) accidentally falls in love with one of them. It’s for the group of friends who got together on that sunny day to play football and failed to notice the disastrous thunderstorm warnings.

Team America: World Police

Nowadays you can’t say the word “America” without adding a “f*ck yeah!” after it—a luxury you can owe to master auteurs Trey Parker and Matt Stone. While Team America: World Police reportedly almost tore the two friends apart, this film glorified the nation while simultaneously ripping it a new one. It’s fun, wild, and totally vulgar—which is kind of shocking for a film starring wooden puppets, but it’s one of those movies that makes you laugh so hard that you almost bust your gut open. Of course, the best part is obviously the puke scene...it’s just inspiring.

Clerks

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again: every man in America has to work a sh*tty job to truly appreciate the meaning of happiness. In Kevin Smith’s debut film, he shows the glamorously mundane life of a convenience store clerk and the owner of a video store and the boredom that can bring two regular guys together to get through the day and insult every customer along the way. Watching Clerks is a gloriously lo-fi experience, black-and-white and all and is the pinnacle dialogue-heavy 90s angst film that gave way to a whole new genre that celebrates the slacker.

Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle

Sometimes you get a craving so intense that it takes over your entire brain and won’t stop nagging until you satisfy it. Whether it’s for steak, ice cream, lobster, or White Castle, it takes a real man with a true best friend to make the journey from wherever you are to wherever that craving can be satisfied. Harold and Kumar prove that their friendship can survive hell or high water—and Neil Patrick Harris—to make the trip from their apartment to White Castle. This movie is all about the unquenchable hunger that comes along with smoking insanely huge portions of weed and the consequences the munchies can cause.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

When you step back and look at the facts, Ferris Bueller probably could have used a couple of weeks in detention to pay for the real-life crime of perjury that he committed—however, that doesn’t mean his day off was done in vain. If you saw Ferris Bueller’s Day Off in school, you knew what it took to be the coolest guy in school, if you saw it as an adult, you’d be kicking yourself for not being cooler. It was the guy movie that taught us that you don’t need to even be of legal drinking age to have the best day of your life. Throw in a beautiful girlfriend and a best friend like Cameron and that’s the equation to a perfect high school experience.

Dumb & Dumber

As far as we’re concerned, this movie stars Jim Carrey and a bunch of other people who are almost as funny as Jim Carrey. What the hell is Dumb & Dumber? Buddy movie? Road trip film? Hilarious thriller? Doesn’t matter, it all works in unity and makes for one of the absolute best comedy of the 90s. There are too many good parts to even narrow one down—though the “most annoying sounds in the world” ranks pretty high up there.

Airplane!

It’s hard to imagine that there was ever a time in America where people weren’t constantly quoting Airplane!, but all movies have to start somewhere. The New York Times called it “clever and confident and furiously energetic” when it first came out in 1980, giving way to a whole genre of movies that basically tried to be as funny as Airplane! It’s a surreal parody of the disaster film genre, namely the film Zero Hourthat has absolutely no room for any serious lines. Lloyd Bridges’ “looks like I picked the wrong week…” gag is nothing short of brilliant, while Leslie Nielsen’s iconic deadpan performance is what turned this film from a parody into a cultural phenomenon.

Point Break (1991)

You’ve got to ask yourself how Point Break successfully made it from the script to the silver screen, but it was the early 90s and there was probably some trace amounts of cocaine and Mountain Dew involved...so that answers that. As compared to the high-octane thrillers of the 21st century, Point Break holds up in a very precious way. Sure, there’s extreme waves, beach fights, skydiving, and that amazing scene where Keanu Reeves empties his gun in the air while screaming. It’s the Top Gun of the ocean, with the addition of Patrick Swayze, and never ceases to keep the audience at the edge of their seat, especially during that last scene where Swayze (as surfer-turned-bank-robber, Bodhi) essentially commits suicide by surfing into a huge wave produced by the storm of the century. Oh yeah, spoiler alert.

Tommy Boy

How was it that every single guy on earth has a friendship like Chris Farley and David Spade in Tommy Boy. Telling the story of the incompetent heir to an auto parts factory (Farley) and his late father’s straight-laced right hand man (Spade), Tommy Boy takes America on the road alongside the two as they struggle to save the company from going under. Every single thing Chris Farley does in this movie is brilliant—namely the gas station scene—and you can really get a feel for the real-life friendship Farley and Spade had, which made the movie all the more funny. It’s a guy movie that lets you know that everyone has the ability to grow and change, and having a buddy along with you in your journey to find yourself makes it all worth it...especially if he wears a little coat.

Inglourious Basterds

Get this: a movie about a gang of Nazi-killing Jews during World World II. It’s more than Tarantino’s pipe dream, it’sInglourious Basterds. Tarantino has the squad scene down, pulling from his Reservoir Dogs days to assemble a crew of ridiculously talented and awesome actors to fulfill the dream everyone fighting on the good side of the fight during World War II most likely thought about. Brad Pitt is as manly as they come in this film, refusing to show any mercy to the men he’s taught he squad to hunt down and—in some cases—scalp. Following suit in Brad Pitt’s team of badasses is an all-star cast who eat kill it, metaphorically and then some: B.J. Novak, Michael Fassbender, and Eli Roth. Of course, we’ve got to give love to the brilliant Christoph Waltz, who makes every word he says terrifying.

Indiana Jones: Raiders Of The Lost Ark

When Raiders of the Lost Ark premiered in the summer of 1981, a new action star was born. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones showed that action stars could be charming, charismatic, and downright badass without any effort whatsoever. That’s how Indiana Jones is as a character—always getting into trouble and just using his unfiltered manliness to get out of it. Despite the fact that this franchise gave birth to a couple of duds, namely The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the archetype of Indiana Jones is a character every action movie should learn be able to draw inspiration and learn from.

There’s Something About Mary

My personal experience with There’s Something About Mary is an overprotective father who refused to let me watch it because of...the scene. As one of the original shocker comedies, There’s Something About Mary reeks of the Farrelly brothers who pride themselves on making people feel totally uncomfortable and weird as they die of laughter. At the same time, there’s certainly a level of relatability that comes along with this film, as everyone has had that woman in their lives with whom every single person they know has tried to make it happen with her. It’s just one of those sad reality that comes along with dating. Just be happy that you’ve never had to deal with a situation along the likes of that scene.

Top Gun

Fine, I’ll admit it: Top Gun is an absolutely ridiculous movie. Along with charging a very $5 fine if anyone quotes the movie, the students at the real life Top Gun training academy would see to it that Maverick would get his ass booted out of the military the moment he tried basically any of the stunts he did in the movie. Hell, it was the 80s, people were all about recklessness...and volleyball, apparently. When you can manage your suspension of disbelief and enjoy this movie for what it is, a glorified montage of cool plane tricks set to Kenny Loggins’ eternally awesome “Danger Zone” then it becomes more obvious why so many dudes enjoy Top Gun. Still...none of us will ever have a bestie like Goose.

Wedding Crashers

Admit it or not, but the American dream is to live life like Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn from Wedding Crashers...well, maybe not all of it, but at least the part where they crash weddings. In reality, Wedding Crashers is actually a really important movie for the guy who refuses to let go of the fantasy of that single guy paradise that every single dude thinks is real when he’s single and realizes doesn’t exist when he gets together with someone. What started as your run-of-the-mill Frat Pack movie ended up with a film that had some serious heart—all you had to do was wade through all dick jokes to get there.

Die Hard

Assuming we’re not talking about any of the newest movies, Die Hard is one of the best movie franchises out there, starring Bruce Willis as your everyday guy who gets caught up in a really sh*tty situation. I think all guys desire to be John McClane to some extent—forced to fend off an entire legion of terrorists as your wife waits to embrace you and nurse you back to health. Raking in over a billion dollars in total since 1988, guys clearly love these movies and will stop at nothing to whip out at least one “yippee-ki-yay, mother f*cker” when the spirit hits—and believe me, it hits often.

Napoleon Dynamite

One of the nice things about a guy film—meaning a movie a dude and his friends can sit around and enjoy—is the idea that there no longer has to be the prerequisite of a movie peppered with explosions and nude bodies. Napoleon Dynamite has nothing of the sort—just the opposite, in fact, save for a totally naked Llama named Tina. Our leading guy, Napoleon, is not a guy other guys aspire to be; as Roger Ebert put it, “Its hero is the kind of nerd other nerds avoid, and the movie is about his steady progress toward complete social unacceptability.” Maybe that’s why we all like it so much, every guy sees the exact opposite of what they want to be with Napoleon Dynamite and ultimately feel better about their own lives. That and every scene with Uncle Rico is enough to make anyone love this movie.

Ghostbusters

Okay, I’m as excited for the new Ghostbusters movie as the next guy, but we can all agree the original will be very hard to beat. You’ve got the unbeatable combination of BIll Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Harold Ramis paired with an inconceivably catchy theme song that made this summer blockbuster an instant classic. Procuring a myriad of quotable scenes (“We came, we saw, we kicked its ass”) and an obnoxious-yet-charming ghost named Slimer that was reportedly created as tribute to John Belushi, it’s no wonder why every guy on earth can sit down with his pals and watch this film.

Office Space

Office Space is an absolute cult classic that celebrates (wait, is celebrates the right word?) the culture behind being a corporate drone. It goes through literally every stage of hating your job and your life along with it, but offers a solution—albeit, a terrible one—for anyone who thinks every single day is the worst day of their life. With enough quotes to fill an entire day...and then some, and the iconic printer-smashing montage in the park, Office Space is the perfect dude movie for the guys who have a steady job, but just aren’t quite ready to enjoy it yet.

The Hangover

Not only is The Hangoverone of the best comedic trilogies out there, but it’s based on a situation that, sadly, way too many guys can relate to. Sure, not all of us have woken up to Mike Tyson, a tiger, and a system coursing with roofies, but things can get pretty hairy when you’re in Vegas in Zach Galifianakis. The unfortunate adventures of Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper, and Galifianakis are the pinnacle of dudes trying just a little too hard to have a memorable night—which is ironic once you think about it, as the whole point of the series is that they can’t remember a damn thing. Still, it celebrates a side of manliness that can be embarrassing to some, the side that appreciates the unknown and unexpected.

Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story

“If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.” Truer words have never been spoken. Well, they probably have, but not by Rip Torn at any point of his life. Dodgeball: A True Underdog story doesn’t need “a true underdog story” in the title to be considered a true underdog story. It’s the tale of a guy, his gym, and a way-less-cool guy trying to put his gym out of business. Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller are magnificent enemies with the latter of which channeling his Heavy Weights days as the evil-and-fit White Goodman. The addition of Christine Taylor provides some much-needed sexiness to this movie full of sweaty dudes, making it an all-around awesome sports movie with unstoppable hilarity.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

It’s really a shame that the manliest man in the world isn’t real—but he sure felt a staple of society with Mike Myers at the helm. As Basil Exposition puts it...in an expository sense, “Women want him, and men want to be him.” Austin may have had his foibles, namely his infatuation with that Swedish-made penis enlarger, but he was the answer to every James Bond film that took itself a little too seriously. Fun fact: Mike Myers put on his British accent around his wife, who then suggested he turn it into a bit, which eventually turned into Austin Powers.

Groundhog Day

If you’ve seen Groundhog Day once, you’ve seen it a million times. In the original screenplay, Phil was trapped in the time loop for over 10,000 years in the same town, slowly accruing different talents and pieces of information of the people in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Harold Ramis went on record saying it was anywhere from 10 to 40 years, but we all know it takes at least a decade to work up the courage to ask out someone as startlingly beautiful as Andie MacDowell. Piano lessons aside, Bill Murray’s character shows the world what would happen to any regular guy if he happened to get stuck in a mysterious blip in the universe—indulging in hedonism to his heart’s content and—of course—going utterly insane.

Hot Rod

Something all guys can relate to (unless they’re a muscled superhero with thick hair and leg-sized arms) is the underdog tale. The story of Rod (brilliantly played by Andy Samberg) in Hot Rod is one that all guys who’ve ever dreamed about something unattainable, stupid, yet awesome, can understand. Rod Kimble is a small-town slacker who just wants to be a stuntman and will stop at nothing to accomplish his goal. Through thick, thin, and the brilliant Will Arnett, he does the unthinkable, and clears 15 buses to save the life of the step-father he longs to beat up. Boy, it really sounds extra ridiculous when it’s written all out like that.

Face/Off

Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, but Face/Off is actually one of the greatest movies ever made. Is it ridiculous? Yes. Does it make sense? Not all the time. Does Nicolas Cage blow everyone’s socks off? Hell yes! It’s a testament of the 90s, where the explosions were huge and no one felt the need to ask why explosions were there in the first place. For those unaware of the plot of this aptly-named movie, Travolta is FBI agent, Sean Archer, who literally switches phases with a ruthless terrorist, Castor Troy, to save LA from a bombing. Troy, played by Cage, becomes Archer and vice-versa and then nothing makes sense for about 130 minutes. It’s loud, unabashed fun that will make your brain explode if you try to rationalize it. Just sit back, relax, and watch two men wear each other’s faces like masks.

Superbad

Is Superbadsuper-manly or as manly as you can get in the shoes of a couple of high school losers? We’d like to think it’s the latter sprinkled with the former. Superbad should remind everyone watching of their high school years, even though we all want to say we were cooler than Seth and Evan (Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, respectively) but we all went through a phase where we’d do anything—literally anything—to get attention from a girl. Of course there are some cringey moments...like when Michael Cera is forced to sing “These Eyes” or basically any scene with McLovin, but there are also some killer sequences that allow you to sit back and feel the nostalgia run through your body as the beer runs down your chin.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Clint Eastwood as the nameless hero in Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Western spectacular, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, reinvented the idea of the cowboy badass in a genre where John Wayne previously reigned supreme. Eastwood’s IDGAF attitude coupled with the perpetual cigar clenched in the corner of his mouth makes him the protagonist you can’t stop rooting for as he searches for that damn Confederate gold. For those unaware of Leone’s previous work, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly is the third movie in the western Dollars Trilogy, following A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin

Alongside movies like Napoleon Dynamite and Dodgeball, The 40-Year-Old Virginis a movie in which you truly feel as though you have to root for the underdog. Steve Carell as Andy makes a surprisingly believable virgin, which makes the whole rooting process a whole lot easier. With Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, and Catherine Keener making the de-virginizing of Andy a total blast, it’s a movie that all guys can relate to...unless you’re still a virgin, in which case I’m sorry I brought it up. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Independence Day

Not only does Independence Day contain one of the most inspirational movie speeches of all time, but it also features Jeff Goldblum spouting the same line of “must go faster!” in the exact same tone as he did in Jurassic Park. Goldblum aside, this movie makes you more proud to be an American than almost any other alien-centric movie out there. The Goldblum/Will Smith mashup is a manly AF combination to be idolized, leading all guys to yearn for those moments where they can strut down the desert floor with their buds with a cigar dangling from their mouths. It’s a taste that’s even sweeter after spending all night saving the human race from destruction.

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

Okay, so Jim Carrey may be in America’s metaphorical doghouse right from all those weird comments in support of the anti-vaccination movement, but that shouldn’t let us forget his past masterpieces, most specifically Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. It’s one of the most Jim Carrey-ish movies out there, chock full of loud noises, awesome hair, Captain Kirk impressions, and a run-in with a shark. As goofy as Ace is in real life, he proves to be a figure of unobstructed manliness as he stops at nothing to rescue the people (or, uh, pets) that he cares so damn much about. Plus, the guy catches a damn bullet in his teeth—when was the last time you did that?

Wayne’s World 2

Wayne’s World 2 falls into the rare category of sequels that were better than the originals. Others in this rare spot include Home Alone 2, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back. A successful movie based on an SNL skit is mind-blowing in its own right, but the fact that the sequel blows the original out of the water is just impressive. Mike Myers and Dana Carvey are Wayne and Gather from Aurora, Illinois and all they want to do is party and put on the best damn rock show on earth. There’s Jim Morrison, a naked Native American man, and the distractingly beautiful Tia Carrere. Notable roles include Chris Farley, Rip Taylor, Ralph Brown as Del Preston—the spaced-out former roadie—and Christopher Walken as...basically the same character he’s played in every single movie. It’s for the guy who knows that living in his parents’ basement really isn’t that bad.

Reservoir Dogs

Quentin Tarantino has a special talent in making bad people seem good. He did it with hitmen, assassins, the Yakuza, and every lead character in Reservoir Dogs. The story of a bank heist gone terribly terribly wrong, Reservoir Dogs is less about the crime at hand, but—oddly enough—the relationship of a bunch of thieves who are all pretty much awful...aside from Tim Roth as Mr. Orange. The ensemble cast (Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Harvey Keitel, etc.) provide a hodgepodge of talent and take the movie far beyond Tarantino’s script and leaves audiences in a world where it looks damn good to be bad. Even when doused in gallons in blood, those matching black suits couldn’t look any better. Notable parts include the sickening ear-cutting scene and Mr. Pink’s explanation on why he doesn’t tip.

Blazing Saddles

Mel Brooks’ iconic 1974 Western, Blazing Saddles, may end up being one of the most epically funny comedies of all time. To label it as “just a guy movie” is selling it short—it’s an everyone movie. Name one person who won’t die of laughter from the infamous fart scene...exactly, that person doesn’t exist. It’s been called “daring, provocative, and laugh-out-loud funny,” which secures it in one of the top spots in this list.

Fight Club

Whether it's just to watch the face of your one friend who's never seen the film and see if he can figure out the big twist before the end, or just to enjoy a late 1990s exploration of societal emasculation, Fight Clubis a must. It's also a classic "watch it twice" movie, and the scenes are so memorable and visceral this is a brilliant group watching experience.

Caddyshack

Told you guys that Bill Murray would be on this list—and you know what? It would be a travesty not to include Caddyshack, let alone have it be anywhere but the top 10. Frankly, this movie stars Bill Murray and a few other dudes playing golf in the background. It’s quotable from the first scene to the closing credits, features the comedic stylings of Chevy Chase and Rodney Dangerfield and has aged beautifully like a fine wine. Caddyshack transcends the line of a regular movie by becoming a movement, a force that breaks ice and loosens ties with one simple uttering of a quote or just simply telling someone to “be the ball.” Ironically...you really don’t learn that much about golf as a viewer watching the movie.

Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy

When Anchorman hit the theaters in 2004, it set the standard in ridiculousness. Not since a decade before had Americans viewed such a silly movie with a heart. Sure, that heart was absolutely doused in scotchy-scotch-scotch, but there was heart nonetheless. Ron Burgundy was more than Will Ferrell in a killer suit and devilish mustache, he became an aspiration...a hero...a legend. The semi-realistic (...ish) portrayal of local TV news in the 70s spoke to men everywhere and told them that it was okay to spend hours fiddling with their hair or talking to their dogs or getting trapped in a glass case of emotion. This is a movie that’ll never lose its edge—because that edge is covered in a thick layer of rich mahogany.

Pulp Fiction

From the moment “Misirlou” by Dick Dale and his Del-Tones kicks in, you realize that you’re on a hell of a ride. Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece, Pulp Fiction, is something of a masterpiece in the way it tells a story, shows its characters, and utilizes music. The all-star cast of Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, and Ving Rhames is masterfully assembled with dialogue that feels completely down-to-earth and make the outlandish situations every character is dealing with all that much more enjoyable. It’s one of the best movies for guys to watch over and over, because some previously unnoticed minor detail always pops up—adding that much more excitement to an already kickass film.